30 Jun 2017Western Australian Museum wins two IPAA AwardsThe Western Australian Museum and its partners have won two prestigious achievement awards presented by the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA), for excellence in outstanding collaborations that delivered extraordinary cultural experiences around significant Western Australian stories.Read more News Flora Perrella
28 Jun 2017Nature photography exhibition to show at the Museum of the GoldfieldsThe finalists’ and winners’ entries for the 2016 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition will go on display at the Museum of the Goldfields this weekend. A remarkable image of an orange-eyed tree frog (Litoria chloris) won the competition. Piercing Headache by Matthew McIntosh of Queensland captures the male frog being bitten by bloodthirsty mosquitoes. Museum of the Goldfields Regional Manager Zoe Scott said she hopes the exhibition’s visitors will be inspired by the beauty and intricacy of our natural world.Read more News Sharna Craig
15 Jun 2017Innovative exhibition teams to design WA’s stories Freeman Ryan Design (FRD) and Thylacine Design and Project Management awarded exhibition design contracts Australian exhibition design teams will work with WA Museum staff to develop engaging exhibitions and visitor experiences Exhibition design program developed in parallel with new building Western Australia’s extraordinary landscapes, environment and the stories of its people will be translatRead more News New Museum Project
31 May 2017New exhibition at the Museum of Geraldton reveals Western Australia 50 years on from the 1967 ReferendumIt has been 50 years since the 1967 Referendum where Australians overwhelming voted to amend the constitution, allowing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be counted in the census, and to be subject to Commonwealth laws rather than an array of state laws. Voters recorded the largest “yes” vote – 90.77% – in any Australian referendum. However, on a percentage basis, Western Australia cast the lowest “yes” vote at 80.9%.Read more News Sharna Craig
31 May 2017New exhibition at the Museum of the Great Southern reveals Western Australia 50 years on from the 1967 ReferendumIt has been 50 years since the 1967 Referendum where Australians overwhelming voted to amend the constitution, allowing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be counted in the census, and to be subject to Commonwealth laws rather than an array of state laws. Voters recorded the largest “yes” vote – 90.77% – in any Australian referendum. The “yes” result for Albany, in the division of Forrest, was 84.65%. This was higher than the State result of 80.9% and the 10th highest subdivision nation-wide.Read more News Sharna Craig
31 May 2017New exhibition at the Museum of the Goldfields reveals Western Australia 50 years on from the 1967 ReferendumIt has been 50 years since the 1967 Referendum where Australians overwhelming voted to amend the constitution, allowing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be counted in the census, and to be subject to Commonwealth laws rather than an array of state laws. Voters recorded the largest “yes” vote – 90.77% – in any Australian referendum. However, Kalgoorlie had the highest divisional “no” vote in the country with 28.1%, and only 71.9% voting “yes”.Read more News Sharna Craig
30 May 2017New exhibition at the WA Maritime Museum reveals Western Australia 50 years on from the 1967 ReferendumIt has been 50 years since the 1967 Referendum where Australians overwhelming voted to amend the constitution, allowing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be counted in the census, and to be subject to Commonwealth laws rather than an array of state laws. Voters recorded the largest “yes” vote – 90.77% – in any Australian referendum. Fremantle had one of Western Australia’s highest “yes” votes at 81.8%.Read more News Sharna Craig
26 May 2017An ancient culture kept alive through artA new exhibition that brings to life one man’s remarkable journey to share his people’s culture with the world is going on display at the Museum of the Great Southern next weekend. Yidumduma Bill Harney: Bush Professor is a travelling exhibition from Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre and celebrates the life work of Yidumduma Bill Harney. Museum of the Great Southern Regional Manager Rachael Wilsher-Saa said Yidumduma Bill Harney is a Wardaman Elder, whose country lies south-east of present-day Katherine in the Northern Territory.Read more News Sharna Craig
23 May 2017WA Museum discovery makes Top 10 New Species listA marine worm that looked so much like a delicious fried pastry that it was named after one by a research scientist at the Western Australian Museum, has been named as one of the Top 10 New Species for 2017.Read more News Flora Perrella
23 May 2017Children to plunge into a Voyage to the Deep at the WA Maritime MuseumChildren are invited to release their inner aquanaut and explore the mysteries of the deep in an exciting new adventure-land Voyage to the Deep: Underwater Adventures opening at the WA Maritime Museum on 27 May. WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said the Voyage to the Deep exhibition is on tour from the Australian National Maritime Museum and is based on French author Jules Verne’s 1870 classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Read more News Flora Perrella
23 May 2017The Next Stage of the JourneyYesterday, I was delighted to join Premier Mark McGowan, Culture and Arts Minister David Templeman, members of the WA Museum’s Board of Trustees and Governors of its Foundation at the site of the New Museum for the turning of the first sod. This ceremony is an important event in construction projects and marks the start of significant works at the site. For the New Museum project it signals the demolition of non-heritage elements ahead of major construction works, which will start later this year.Read more News Alec Coles
22 May 2017Ground breaking ceremony at New Museum sitePremier Mark McGowan and Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman recently turned the first sod at the site of the New Museum before the dramatic removal of the former foyer. The ceremony marked a significant milestone for the New Museum Project ahead of major construction works, scheduled for late 2017.Read more News New Museum Project
16 May 2017Western Australian Museum wins two MAGNA AwardsThe Western Australian Museum has won two prestigious awards at the Museums and Galleries National Awards 2017 (MAGNA) held in Brisbane last night, for two outstanding exhibitions developed and co-curated by the Museum. The two exhibitions are Yurlmun: Mokare Mia Boodja (Returning to Mokare's Home Country), which won the award for Indigenous Project or Keeping Place (Level 2); and Lustre: Pearling & Australia, which won the award for Temporary or Travelling Exhibition (Level 3).Read more News Flora Perrella
11 May 2017Nyoongar stories brought to lifeWestern Australian Museum visitors will be taken on a wild adventure by contemporary Aboriginal theatre performances when Boodjar Kaatijin tours regional Western Australia. The shows, written by Ian Wilkes and performed by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company, incorporate storytelling, puppetry and glow in the dark elements to tell traditional legends about how the land was created. Western Australian Museum CEO Alec Coles said the Museum has had a co-production partnership with Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company since 2012.Read more News Sharna Craig
8 May 2017I Am Heath Ledger documentary prelude to October exhibitionThe extraordinary I Am Heath Ledger documentary premieres in Perth on 9 May at Luna Palace Cinema in Leederville, preluding the much anticipated exhibition about the life of the internationally renowned Perth-born star, Heath Ledger: A Life in Pictures. The world premiere of the documentary was held at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York last month, drawing worldwide acclaim and attention.Read more News Flora Perrella
24 Apr 2017New clingfish discovery shows value of museum collectionsA new genus and species of clingfish has been discovered on the shelves of the Western Australian Museum’s Harry Butler Research Centre. Western Australian Museum Curator of Fishes Dr Glenn Moore discovered the new clingfish with fellow researcher Dr Kevin Conway from Texas A&M University. “We came across two specimens of clingfish that had similar characteristics, yet unmistakably different from the other 160 known clingfishes,” Dr Moore said.Read more News Flora Perrella
30 Mar 2017Nature photography exhibition to show at the Museum of the Great Southern The finalists’ and winners’ entries for the 2016 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition will go on display at the Museum of the Great Southern next weekend. A remarkable image of an orange-eyed tree frog (Litoria chloris) won the competition. Piercing Headache by Matthew McIntosh of Queensland captures the male frog being stung by bloodthirsty mosquitoes.Read more News Sharna Craig
28 Mar 2017Exceptional Yurlmun exhibition ends soonAn exhibition featuring historic objects made by Albany’s Menang people nearly 200 years ago will soon return to the British Museum after being on display temporarily at the Museum of the Great Southern.Read more News Sharna Craig
23 Mar 2017Rare Night Parrot sighting in Western Australia welcomedThe Western Australian Museum welcomes the recent sighting of one of Australia’s rarest birds, the Night Parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis), by a group of bird enthusiasts in Broome.Read more News Mara Pritchard
14 Mar 2017Western Australia’s oldest car to go on display in YorkThe oldest surviving car of Western Australian provenance will return to York for the first time in 115 years. The Benz, on loan from the Western Australian Museum, will go on display at the York Motor Museum from Wednesday, 15 March 2017. WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said he is pleased the car will spend the next two years in York and that the Motor Museum will be able to share the car’s colourful history with its visitors.Read more News Sharna Craig